February 5, 2011 - New York State's Governor Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s intention to enforce taxation on Native-sold cigarettes is on paper. In the first state budget of his tenure, the governor accounted for $130 million in revenues from taxes on cigarettes sold by Native merchants.

“This is nothing new, and nothing has changed,” said Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter in reaction to the state budget, which was released Tuesday. “We hope to have a chance to discuss these and other issues with the governor.”

Gov. Cuomo is the fifth state executive who will try to end tax-free cigarette sales by New York Indian tribes, an effort started nearly three decades ago by his father and former governor, Mario Cuomo. Several spending plans of the last four governors have all included expected revenues from Native-sold cigarette taxation — a move the state executives believed would bridge budget shortfalls.

Including revenues from Native-sold cigarette taxation in the 2011-12 state budget isn’t Gov. Cuomo’s first indication of plans to collect the taxes.

The following are statements from Seneca Nation of Indians President Robert Odawi Porter: From President Robert Odawi Porter: “This is nothing new, and nothing has changed. We hope to have a chance to discuss these and other issues with the governor. But the Seneca Nation will never be the state’s tax collector. We’ve said that repeatedly and nothing has changed in that regard. But we’re looking forward to talking with the governor and his staff about what divides us.” (Seneca Nation reacts to Cuomo's budget, posted by: Emily Lenihan, wivb.com, 2/32011)Former Governor Patterson had plans that was suppose to start on Wednesday, September 1st the state will require wholesalers who supply Indian reservation stores to pay the $4.35 per-pack tax upfront and then collect it from the tribes. Tribes say they won’t pay any New York taxes and will sell their own brands instead. (Onondagas say they will stop selling national-brand cigarettes, Glenn Coin, The Post-Standard, 8/27/2010.)

February 5, 2011 - Kudus ('Kota Kretek'' - Kretek City), strongly Islamic town and the birthplace of kretek (Indonesian clove cigarette) located in Central Java. About 75 per cent of Kudus's population of 800,000 are employed by the cigarette industry, and there are almost a quarter of a million workers - almost all of them women - who handroll kreteks, Indonesia's distinctive clove cigarette.

The women work in pairs, and with astonishing dexterity. Each pair typically makes more than 5000 cigarettes a day. The price reflects a concessionary tax regime that highlights the Indonesian government's controversial approach to regulating the industry, where the protection of the 6 million workers directly employed in the industry, and their extremely wealthy bosses, trumps health concerns.

Indonesia is one of the world's last bastions of laissez-faire regulation of tobacco use. Ads still run on TV; the football league is sponsored by a tobacco company, as are pop concerts, and cultural and sporting events, where young women often hand out free packets to anyone with a ticket. (Indonesia - paradise for smokers and paradise for tobacco companies..)

Rates of smoking are rising - up 26 per cent in the past 15 years as women and youngsters take up the habit. One in four boys aged between 13 and 15 now smoke and 70 per cent of men do. Just 5 per cent of women smoke, but that percentage has tripled in the past decade.

The health and economic effects are devastating. More than 400,000 a year die from health-related illnesses, according to the World Health Organisation. Another survey found that Indonesian households with smokers spend more on cigarettes than fish, meat, eggs and milk combined, and four times more than they outlay on education.

Tax from cigarettes brings in $6.2 billion for the government, about 8.5 percent of revenue, but, says Ruli Mustafa of the anti-smoking group Combat, the health costs each year are ''far bigger'', more than $21 billion by one estimate. In Kudus, though, where the streets are festooned with banners from smoking companies, many argue that kreteks, the choice of 88 per cent of smokers, are in fact healthy. Local legend has it that Camhari, the Kudus native who invented kretek, was cured of asthma after he added cloves to tobacco.

Kudus does have an anti-smoking campaigner, of a type. Bambang Kismanu is the head of the health department office in Kudus and has a budget of about $50,000 a year to encourage people to give up cigarettes. Each school in the regency now has no-smoking signs and teachers have mostly stopped lighting up in the playground, he says. Efforts are concentrated on fourth and fifth graders, amid alarming evidence of pre-teens taking up smoking."We are trying to get buildings to become non-smoking areas, but we have only two so far," Bambang says. ''That's here [at the health department office] and at the manpower ministry." As we talk I spy a dirty ashtray in his office. "'You smoke?""No, it is just for guests. I've given up,"' Bambang replies. We say our goodbyes, but I return a few minutes later to use the bathroom, surprising Bambang. The portly health chief is drawing deeply on a kretek, chatting away with a group of his staff, all of them smoking at their desks.

February 5, 2011 - Each day in the United States, approximately 3,900 persons aged 12--17 years smoke their first cigarette, and an estimated 1,000 adolescents become daily cigarette smokers. The vast majority of persons who begin smoking during adolescence are addicted to nicotine by age 20. (MMWR - Cigarette Smoking --- United States, 1965--2008..)

A national study finds that smokers who started recently are more likely than longer-term smokers to use menthol cigarettes. Menthol is an additive used in cigarettes that masks the harshness of cigarette smoke by giving the smoker the sensation of coolness in the mouth, pharynx, and lungs. By masking the harshness, menthol can make it easier for young people to start smoking. (Menthol Cigarettes - smokers who started recently more likely to smoke menthols..)

Many more cigarettes are sold in the U.S. compared to cigars and smokeless tobacco. U.S. consumers spent an estimated $90 billion in 2006 on tobacco products.* Approximately $83.6 billion was spent on cigarettes.* Approximately $3.2 billion was spent on cigars.* Approximately $2.6 billion was spent on smokeless tobacco (e.g., chewing tobacco and snuff). (Economic Facts About U.S. Tobacco Production and Use, CDC Smoking and Tobacco Use..On June 22, 2009 President Barack Obama signed into law an anti-smoking bill (Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act) that gives the FDA greater power to regulate tobacco. The president called this law the "Kids tobacco regulation bill to protect our kids."

Health care officials have longed complained that flavored cigarettes lure young people into a lifetime of nicotine addiction. So one of the first orders of business the FDA announced was a ban on cigarettes with flavors characterizing fruit, candy, or clove. Unfortunately, the tobacco industry really did not mind taking these flavored cigarettes off the market since these cigarettes were not even one percent of the market. (FDA - first steps in the role of tobacco regulation..)

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., 21st Commissioner of Food and Drugs administration (FDA): The flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers. "Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. "FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily." Dr. Lawrence Deyton, Director of the Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA: Children are three times us likely as adults to smoke a flavored cigarettes. FDA - first steps in the role of tobacco regulation.. did not include menthol flavored cigarettes..

If the goal of the effort by the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products is to reduce the number of kids beginning to use tobacco products then they must reduce the availability of menthol cigarettes.

February 4, 2011 - Mexico City implemented smoke-free legislation April 2008. This study is the first to evaluate the economic impact of the law, using a detailed dataset and appropriate econometric techniques. The study provides timely information for tobacco control efforts in Mexico and adds to the scarce literature on the economic impact of smoke-free laws in low and middle-income countries.

There is no statistically significant evidence that the Mexico City smoke-free law had a negative impact on restaurants' income, employees' wages and levels of employment. On the contrary, the results show a positive, though statistically non-significant, impact of the law on most of these outcomes. Mexico City's experience suggests that smoke-free laws in Mexico and elsewhere will not hurt economic productivity in the restaurant and bar industries. Read more...

February 4, 2011 - New York City lawmakers voted Feb. 2 to ban smoking outdoors in public parks, public beaches, and even Times Square. (New York City Council votes to ban smoking in parks, beaches and other outdoor public places..) The Big Apple is the latest major US city to prohibit smoking in parks and other public spaces, adopting laws that are tougher than its home state's. Such laws are a boon to public health and reduce litter in urban parks, say supporters.

In all, almost 500 cities, counties, and towns have banned smoking in public parks.

Here are five big cities that have done so:

1. ChicagoThe Chicago Park District, which manages Chicago’s parks and 26 miles of lakefront, banned smoking at beaches and playgrounds in 2007. Violators can be fined $500 if caught smoking in either of those venues. In part, the ban is intended to keep bacteria-bearing litter (i.e., cigarette butts) out of recreational waters so that swimming areas can remain open. The park district tests Lake Michigan water five times a week in summer and posts the results.

2. Los Angeles CountySmoking is prohibited at all parks in Los Angeles County, under a ban approved by the Board of Supervisors in September 2009. Exceptions are made for actors who are smoking during filming for a movie or during a theatrical production, and for models during a photo shoot – but only in consultation with a fire official and at the discretion of the park director.Smoking may be permitted in contractor-operated facilities, such as county golf courses, in designated areas. Smoking is also banned from any part of a public beach, except the parking area, in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

3. San FranciscoSan Francisco bans smoking in public parks and, for that matter, in any public open space under the jurisdiction of a city department or the Recreation and Park Commission. When approved in 2004, the ban was one of the strictest to date. It applies to many public spaces: parks, squares, gardens, playing fields, piers, and farmers' markets. (Piers used for commercial purposes are not covered by the ban.)

Smoking is not allowed in playgrounds or "tot lot" sandbox areas, either, but that's by order of the California Health and Safety Code.

According to city code, smokers in “city owned parks, public squares, ball diamonds, golf courses, soccer fields, and other recreation areas, Library Square, city owned cemeteries and trails” are included in the ban, but not areas specifically designated for smoking. Violators can be fined up to $25 but do not face the possibility of imprisonment.

5. Albuquerque, N.M.In June 2007, then-Mayor Martin Chavez issued an executive order banning smoking on city property – including transit stops and parks. The order didn’t go through the city council or state legislature, though. Instead, the mayor asked citizens not to smoke in city parks, and he urged citizens and police officers to enforce the ban by confronting violators. The Albuquerque City Council opposed the executive order, calling it “unenforceable.”

According to the Albuquerque Open Space Program website, the ban applies to all city property except golf courses and sidewalks.

February 4, 2011 - In its continued fight against counterfeit cigarettes, Philip Morris USA has seized 290 packs of counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes from two retailers on the Poospatuck Reservation in Suffolk County, N.Y. The seizure was part of the company’s lawsuit against the retailers.

The move comes after a federal judge in New York approved PM USA’s request for emergency relief including the ability to search smoke shops for counterfeit Marlboros in New York. In total, the company has sued 48 retailers in the state for selling counterfeit cigarettes, including six other Poospatuck retailers.

February 4, 2011 - Norwegian food retailers sold 1.6 billion cigarettes last year, down by 54.4 million or 3.2 percent from the level of sales the previous year, according to an Esmerk Norwegian News story quoting statistics from Nielsen Norge.

Pipe and rolling tobacco turnover declined by 6.1 percent, while snuff turnover increased by 12.4 percent, a lower growth than was recorded in 2009.

February 4, 2011 - The state Attorney General’s Office has filed lawsuits (in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan) against six web site operators which the state says illegally sold cigarettes to New York State residents, part of a disturbing trend that provides teens easy access to tobacco, and encourages a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues.

According to the Attorney General’s complaints, the named internet vendors accepted orders from New York State consumers and delivered the cigarettes to New York State addresses.

The six vendors are:–Totally Tickled Limited, Inc. for discountcigarettesdomestic.com, Kentucky Smokes, and David White;–Anton Limited for INeedSmoke.com, and Kyle Williams;–Cigarettes-online.biz and John Sparkle;–Best Products Solution Limited for http://cigoutlet.net/;–Best Products Solution Limited for Smokin4free.com; and–Best Products Solution Limited for cigoutlet.biz.

New York State Public Health Law Section § 1399-ll prohibits the shipment of cigarettes to any person in the state unless that person is licensed as a cigarette tax agent or wholesale dealer. Four of the complaints further charge that the internet vendors violated Executive Law section 63(12) by repeating these illegal sales on more than one occasion. The state is seeking fines of up to $5,000 for each violation and injunction against future sales.

How are tobacco products being delivered?? The main goal for passage of the PACT Act: to Protect Our Children - Make it illegal to use the U.S. Postal Service to deliver any form of tobacco product.. FedEx, UPS and DSL — have bowed to state pressure and have refused to ship tobacco products. (U.S. PACT Law takes effect June 29, 2010..)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 24,100 children under the age of 18 become new daily (EACH DAY) smokers each year. An estimated 389,000 kids now under the age of 18 in New York will die prematurely from smoking.In addition to the health effects, the fiscal impact of low-cost cigarettes is staggering, according to the AG’s office. The New York State Department of Health reported that in 2004, the state lost between $436 million and $576 million from the sale of low price, mainly untaxed cigarettes. Of that loss, between $106 million and $122 million derived from online tobacco sales. Aside from the lost revenue, avoiding the cigarette tax helps smokers avoid quitting: if all smokers paid the average retail price for cigarettes, there would be between 51,026 and 76,539 fewer adult smokers in New York.

Internet tobacco prices are much lower than those in regular brick-and-mortar retail outlets because they almost never include the taxes charged by retail stores. The low-cost cigarettes make internet tobacco products attractive to both adult and underage smokers, and help boost overall smoking levels. There is little to prevent underage online purchases as youth smokers can simply provide false identification to avoid their “age verification” procedures – which is not possible in face-to-face purchases.

Big Tobacco benefits the most from online cigarette sales because they can sell their high-demand, high-priced premium brands cheaply, as these sales are made tax-free. In fact, many sites advertise that they do not report their sales to any government entity. This practice is entirely illegal since federal law requires that internet vendors report all sales to the tax departments of the states into which they are selling. 2-3-11

The New York State Attorney General’s Office has long been active in trying to stop the sales of cigarettes over the internet. In 2005, it entered into agreements with the major credit card companies in which they agreed not to permit their credit cards to be used for the sale of tobacco products over the internet. In addition, the Office entered into agreements with three of the largest shippers to stop the delivery of cigarettes to individual consumers anywhere in the country. In recognition of these and other efforts, the Office’s Tobacco Compliance Bureau was given the “Champions of 2010″ award by Reality Check, a statewide youth program whose goal is to educate teens about the manipulative marketing practices used by the tobacco industry to get teens to smoke.

These cases are being handled by Assistant Attorney General Marc Konowitz under the supervision of Tobacco Compliance Bureau Chief Dana Biberman.

Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) consist of the following: * R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is the second-largest U.S. tobacco company. The company's brands include six of the 10 best-selling cigarettes in the United States: Camel, Pall Mall, Winston, Kool, Doral and Salem. * American Snuff Company, LLC is the nation's second-largest manufacturer of smokeless tobacco products. Its leading brands are Kodiak, Grizzly and Levi Garrett. * Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc. manufactures Natural American Spirit cigarettes and other additive-free tobacco products, and manages and markets other super-premium brands. * Niconovum AB markets innovative nicotine replacement therapy products in Sweden and Denmark under the Zonnic brand name.

Question: outlook for the cigarette industry, in terms of volume and also your expectations for state excise taxes? Dan Delen - I think for 2011 we really would see the industry cigarette volume to be very similar to 2010, down around 4%, and in moist snuff as well, I think similar to 2010 we would see an increase there in the 6 to 7% range. I think really when we look across both categories, pretty steady as she goes. I think that’s extremely positive, and a positive backdrop to our business looking forward.

Ivey noted RAI’s announcement on Jan. 14 that it plans to sell its Lane, Limited subsidiary, which manufactures a variety of tobacco products, to Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S. (Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S (STG) plans for the future..) “This will allow RAI’s operating companies to devote their energy and resources to the primary growth categories within their businesses,” Ivey said.

R.J. Reynolds has reduced product offerings by more than 80 percent, ending 2010 with less than 150 SKUs.

The number of cigarettes the Winston-Salem, N.C., company sold fell 5.1 per cent to 19 billion cigarettes during the quarter, compared with its industry estimate of 4.7 per cent.

Continuing strong market-share gains from its Pall Mall cigarette and Grizzly moist-snuff brands lifted R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette growth brands continued to post strong gains in line with the company’s defined brand-portfolio strategy. These gains are significantly offsetting declines on the company’s other cigarette brands. Those declines were driven by private label brands that the company has been de-emphasizing and delisting to reduce complexity and streamline its product offerings.

The company’s total fourth-quarter cigarette market share of 28.3 percent was down 0.2 percentage points from the prior-year quarter. However, excluding the private label brands, R.J. Reynolds’ total cigarette market share was up 1.0 percentage point to 28.1 percent. For the full year, total cigarette market share was 28.1 percent, down 0.2 points from the prior year period, but its market share was up 0.7 points at 27.5 percent excluding private label brands. R.J. Reynolds’ fourth-quarter cigarette shipment volume was down 5.1 percent from the prior yearquarter, but down just 1.9 percent excluding private label brands. By comparison,fourth-quarter industry volume declined 4.7 percent. For the full year, R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette shipment volume was also down 5.1 percent from the prior-year period. Excluding private-label brands, volume was down 2.1 percent compared to the industry decline of 3.8 percent.

Both of the company’s growth brands, Camel and Pall Mall, again delivered higher market share and volume. For the fourth quarter, combined growth-brand market share of 16.2 percent was up 2.9 percentage points from the prior-year quarter.

Pall Mall’s continued rise in popularity as a lower-cost cigarette option has helped it overtake Camel as not only the top Reynolds brand, but also the third largest U.S. brand. Pall Mall’s market share was 8.3 percent, up from 7.8 percent in the third quarter and 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. By comparison, Camel’s market share was 8 percent, unchanged from the third quarter and up from 7.4 percent a year ago.

Cigarettes sold by Pall Mall grew 19 per cent during the quarter as the company continues to promote the brand as a longer-lasting and more affordable cigarette as smokers weather the weak economy and high unemployment. Its share of the U.S. market grew 2.3 points to 8.3 per cent in the quarter. Camel sold 8.5 per cent more cigarettes during the period, while its U.S. market share grew 0.6 points to 8 per cent.

Smokeless Tobacco

Reynolds American said it sold 8.2 per cent more of its Kodiak and Grizzly smokeless tobacco products in the fourth quarter. Its smokeless market share grew 0.5 points to 29.9 per cent of the U.S. market. Reynolds American's larger competitor, Altria Group Inc., parent company of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, said last week that raising prices and cutting costs helped its third-quarter net income climb nearly 27 per cent. The number of cigarettes it shipped fell 7 per cent.

Camel SNUS, the brand’s first modern smoke-free product, continues to perform well, with its two new styles — Robust and Winterchill — adding to that performance. These two larger pouch styles were introduced in the third quarter, and offer adult tobacco consumers a richer, more full-bodied tobacco taste, as well as smoke-free, spit-free convenience. On a moist snuff equivalent basis, Camel SNUS had a 4.5 percent share in the fourth quarter.

R.J. Reynolds is making product and packaging upgrades to Camel’s new line of innovative dissolvable tobacco products — Orbs, Sticks and Strips — which will be introduced in two new lead markets in March.

Industry moist-snuff shipments were up 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter, and up 8.1 percent for the year. On a consumer off-take basis, moist-snuff volume increased about 6 percent for the year. Grizzly, the company’s flagship brand, has delivered solid growth this year, following a challenging first quarter. The brand benefitted from American Snuff’s focus on equity building, which included the packaging upgrade to embossed metal lids in the second quarter. The brand also benefited from the third-quarter expansion of R.J. Reynolds’ field trade-marketing organization to serve American Snuff. The brand set a new record-high marketplace performance in the fourth quarter. Share of shipments gained 0.8 percentage points to 26.1 percent, while on a consumer off-take basisas measured by AC Nielsen, Grizzly was up 1.1 percentage points from the prior-yearquarter, at 27.2 percent. Grizzly’s fourth-quarter shipment volume increased by 9.9 percent, and was up 6.8 percent for the year. The brand further strengthened its position in the rapidly growing pouch segment, which now represents almost 9 percent of total moist-snuff category sales. Grizzly captured 24.3 percent of all pouch sales in the fourth quarter and has the number one Wintergreen pouchstyle in the market.

Question to Dan Delen: what do you think could happen to volumes if there was an actual menthol ban? Well, let me start by saying this. I don’t believe a menthol ban is imminent. I think the TPSAC (Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee) office is going to make its recommendations here at the back end of March 2010, but just to remind everybody that that is just a recommendation at this stage, and then we’ll need to see what the FDA actually decides to do, based on whatever recommendation comes out to the advisory committee. So I think that we don’t have a specific direction from the FDA how they might want to act, I think it’s a little bit premature to speculate as to how sort of competitive positions or volumes in different segments might settle in in the marketplace.

February 3, 2011 - Survey finds nearly 80 percent of teenagers between the age of 14 to 19 in the metropolitan cities, are addicted to smoking cigarettes. The survey conducted by Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) survey saw participations of over 3,000 teenagers of age group of 14 to 19 from all over the schools and college in metropolitan cities from November to January 2011. Of the teenagers that are addicted to cigarettes, one out of five is smoking an alarming 13 to 15 cigarettes every single day, it reveals.

The major cities in which respondents were interviewed include Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Patna, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh and Dehradun. Interestingly, it is observed that consumption of cigarettes is more in fashion in Delhi-NCR, followed Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The survey highlights the fact that consumption of cigarettes among teenagers has increased due to smoking by parents, availability and price of tobacco, lack of parent involvement, approval of smoking by siblings and lower self-esteem among teenagers.

It reveals that majority of children, aged 14 to 16 have tried smoking in their schools. Every single day, close to 600 teenagers begin to smoke cigarettes, it says.Of these teenagers smoking, about 20 percent of the males are addicted to smoking and close to 6-10 percent of the females are smoking regularly.

The majority of teenagers nearly spend Rs 3,500-4,500 (77.04 USD-99.05 USD) on an annual basis. The survey reveals that fact that nearly 94 percent of teen smokers have never been asked for proof of age when buying cigarettes in a store.Interestingly, 80 percent teens were allowed for buying cigarettes even though the retailer was aware they were under the age of 18."Parents are the biggest influence and do have the power to introduce their children to the dangers of smoking," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat says. With combined efforts from adults, teenagers could be able to get the necessary education and make the decision to not smoke, Mr Rawat says.

The most dramatic increase in regular smoking occurs at about age 15 for both boys and girls.

India makes critical decision on education that will help convince children not to use tobacco. The government on Thursday, April 1st brought into force a new law that makes education free and compulsory for every child from age 6 to 14—the latest government initiative aimed at harnessing the economic potential of its young population. About a third of India's 1.2 billion people are under the age of 14, one of the highest ratios in the world. (Joining hands in the interest of children, Kapil Sibal, The Hindu, 1/31/2010)

Rep. Charlie Brown brought more than words to work Monday, January 31st, as he pitched his proposal for a statewide public smoking ban in Indiana. Brown urged his colleagues to protect people from being exposed to smoke while they're at work.

Lawmakers voted on his House Bill 1018 - the measure passed, 68-31, making it eligible for a hearing in the Senate. H.B. 1018 would outlaw smoking in all public places in the state except for casinos and other gambling facilities, bars that admit only those who are at least 21 years old, veterans halls and fraternal clubs, and nursing homes.

Brown introduced the bill as a comprehensive ban, but representatives added the exemptions. Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus, said he would like to see senators make the bill comprehensive again. “I've been told not to say this on the floor,” Smith said on the House floor, “but we're going to hopefully rely on the Senate to remove some of the exemptions, so we can have a true smoking ban in the state of Indiana.”

Lat year on February 5, 2010 we reported that a bill to ban smoking in public places passed the house 73 to 26 earlier this week-but the Senate President Pro-tem David Long said the senate isn't ready to consider a ban. (Indiana - no statewide smoking ban this year for, "The ash tray of the Midwest"..)Here are some of the Indiana smoking statistics researchers found (Indiana - PENN State study on Smoking Cessation: the Economic Benefits..):» Each year, tobacco use kills 9,700 people in Indiana.» Smoking results in annual costs to the Indiana economy of more than $7.7 billion. This includes workplace productivity losses of $2 billion, costs of premature death at $3 billion and direct medical expenses of $2.6 billion.» Retail cost of a pack of cigarettes is $5.13, but the real cost to society and the state's economy is $15.90 per pack.» By providing smoking- cessation treatments, Indiana can annually save $5 million in direct health-care expenditures and $9.8 million in workplace productivity losses.

February 3, 2011 - Vermont’s anti-tobacco forces are pressing lawmakers to boost the state’s per-pack tax — now $2.24 — in hopes of offsetting planned budget cuts to anti-tobacco efforts, raising more money for the state and discouraging people from lighting up.

A new survey shows strong public support for an 81-cent increase in Vermont's tax on a pack of cigarettes -- a finding the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Vermont is using to support its drive for the tax change, reported the Burlington Free Press. The poll showed even stronger support -- 88 percent -- for raising taxes on other tobacco products such as cigars and chewing tobacco, according to the report.

Representatives of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont joined Tuesday, February 1st with officials of the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council to propose the increase, which they say would raise $10.2 million in new revenue for state government, drive some smokers to quit and save millions in health-care costs. A coalition of 45 health and consumer groups is backing the cigarette tax increase. They say the tax hike is needed to restore several million dollars to smoking prevention programs and to discourage young people from buying cigarettes. Under the plan, Vermont's cigarette tax would rise to $3.24 a pack.

Gov. Peter Shumlin has proposed a $2.1 million cut in the state’s tobacco control efforts. The anti-tobacco lobby says nearly five times that amount could be raised — and some tobacco-control programs spared — by slapping $1 more onto Vermont’s per-pack tax. (Increase Vermont’s cigarette tax from $2.24 to $3.24.)

The increase would prompt 2,000 smokers to quit and prevent 3,600 children from taking it up, according to the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont. It would raise money for the state, which is facing a budget shortfall of about $176 million for the fiscal year starting July 1, and reduce Medicaid expenditures, said coalition coordinator Tina Zuk of Colchester.

State Rep. George Till, D-Chittenden, a physician who’s among the bill’s sponsors, says using tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in Vermont.

Cigarettes sell for about $6.50 a pack in Vermont, and about 17 percent of adults smoke.

Governor Shumlin opposes the tax increase. He says Vermont is getting more money than it expected from the tax this year because neighboring states have increased their tax rates. Vermont state government has reaped about $4.9 million more in cigarette-tax revenues in this fiscal year than it forecast, mainly because of price-conscious smokers from neighboring New York who head east to buy for less, Agency of Human Services Secretary Doug Racine said. In New York, the state tax on a pack is more than $4.

Shumlin says the state's smoking prevention programs can still be effective with the cuts that he's proposed.

The Vermont Grocers’ Association opposes the increase, which it contends will drive smokers to buy somewhere else, not quit. “No one wants to see increased smoking,” said Jim Harrison, president. “We want to see decreases. However, just changing the tax rate — it has other unintended consequences. We’ve seen it time and time again, especially when small geographic states like Vermont increase the rate. It shifts sales to neighboring states, the Internet, Indian reservations.

Vermont is dealing with a $176 million deficit. The measure will now be reviewed by several different committees in the House.

Brittany Murray / Press-TelegramFebruary 3, 2011 - LONG BEACH - Long Beach City College (LBCC) student Danny Reich was tired of choking on the secondhand smoke wafting around campus. The 62-year-old music major suffers from congenital heart disease and says cigarette smoke aggravates his medical condition. And it's just plain nasty, he added.

Long Beach City College officially became a smoke-free campus January 18, 2011 in a measure that was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees. It was the result of a two-year grass-roots effort led by Reich. In a few weeks banners will go up around Long Beach City College promoting the new campus wide ban on smoking. (Brittany Murray / Press-Telegram) and other members of a Smoke-Free Campus Committee.

Smoking is permitted only in designated areas on both the Liberal Arts and Pacific Coast campuses. The college is expected to post signs later this month, and those who don't heed the signs will get a warning.

LBCC is on the heels of a major trend as colleges across the country move to enforce stricter anti-smoking rules. An estimated one in five college students are regular smokers, according to the American Lung Association. Among adults who have ever smoked, an estimated 86 percent started at age 21 or younger. Anti-smoking advocates say the 18 to 24 age group has one of the highest smoking rates, and the tobacco companies are well aware of it. In 2005, the tobacco industry spent more than $1 million a day sponsoring events and giveaways targeting college students, according to the American Lung Association (ALA).But many groups are fighting back. In California more than 80 public colleges and universities have established smoke-free policies on campus, said Kim Homer Vagadori of the California Youth Advocacy Network, a state-funded program that works to implement tobacco-free policies in schools. Some schools, like Mesa College in San Diego, have even eliminated their designated smoking zones, Kim said.

February 3, 2011 - A new study shows that smoking habits follow gender lines in the household. In other words: like father, like son; like mother, like daughter. If there is a smoker in the home then the children are more likely to smoke.

The British Household Panel Survey 1994-2002 data was used to examine the inter-generational implications of smoking habits. This new information may not be a huge surprise because it is at least loosely accepted that children mimic their parents, after all they are primary models for children. The results show just how much smoking habits are passed from parent to child, especially between the same gender, a very important discovery that has implications for anti-smoking campaigns.

Looking at the data of two parent homes where the father and mother smoked, the child of the same gender of the smoking parent has a higher likelihood of picking up their parents smoking habits. Smoking rates for sons was 24% and 23% for daughters, but this number drops to 12% for both genders if neither parent smokes. Parents can reduce the chances that their kids will smoke by quitting smoking themselves.Of note, the highest rate of parent to child smoking was found in single mother households. Smoking habits are passed more significantly to sons than daughters in this case, but both percentages are higher than two parent smoking households. If there was any question that single parent households negatively impact children this is a good place to start. In single-parent households, mothers transmit their smoking habits to their children -- regardless of their gender. In this case, a son's likelihood of smoking if the mother smokes is 32%, and 28% for a daughter.

February 3, 2011 - Star Scientific, Inc. filed an application yesterday, February 2nd with the U.S. Food & Administration (FDA) for approval to market a moist-snuff product, Stonewall Moist-BDL™, as a modified-risk tobacco product (MRTP). The company believes that this is the first application filed with the FDA for approval of a tobacco product in a longstanding market segment. The data submitted in the application to the Center for Tobacco Products at FDA document TSNA levels in Stonewall Moist-BDL™ that are below limits of detection, or "BDL", by current standards of measure. Recent findings in the form of test results from an independent international laboratory validate the extraordinarily low levels in recently submitted samples of Stonewall Moist-BDL™, which the company believes are the lowest found anywhere in the world.

The company pointed out that this application is particularly significant in two ways.

First, moist snuff product sales accounted for roughly 75% of the total smokeless tobacco market in 2009. Moist snuff sales increased from 31,500 metric tons and $3.3 billion in 2004 to 37,990 metric tons and $4.64 billion in 2009 – an average annual growth rate of roughly 4%, and a 41% overall increase in sales over the six-year period. The moist snuff market segment has been well established for many decades, and is one of the oldest tobacco product categories in the United States.

Second, tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA) levels among the moist snuff products with the largest sales volume in 2009 averaged over 10,000 parts per billion in comparison to TSNA levels in Stonewall Moist-BDL, which in initial testing were less than 20 parts per billion, a 99% reduction.In its application the company requested that, upon approval of the application, it be allowed to show the levels of tobacco carcinogens on Stonewall Moist-BDL™ labeling and packaging. Draft guidance issued by the FDA in November 2009 stated that the agency expected to complete MRTP application approval processes in 360 days or less.

The company also submitted two applications for approval of dissolvable smokeless tobacco products in 2010: Ariva-BDL™ in February, and Stonewall-BDL™ in June. Less than two weeks remain until the one-year anniversary of Star's first modified risk application to the FDA. The company to date has not received a response from the Center for Tobacco Products on the status of either of the first two applications, or to an October 2010 letter from Paul L. Perito, Star's Chairman and President requesting a meeting to respond to any questions and learn about application status.(Star Scientific - developed a moist snuff tobacco product that has extremely low levels of carcinogens -- even lower than snus products..)

February 3, 2011 - New York City on Wednesday, February 2nd moved a step closer to ban smoking in parks, beaches and other outdoor public spaces, amid grumbling that the city government may have gone too far in its war on salt, fat and smoke. The city council voted 36 to 12 in favor of the smoking restrictions, extending an existing ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he would sign the bill, and it would come into effect 90 days later.

February 2, 2011 - The New York City Council is slated Wednesday afternoon, February 2nd to approve a ban on smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas like Times Square. The legislation marks the most ambitious expansion of the city’s anti-smoking laws since Mayor Michael Bloomberg convinced the city lawmakers to approve a ban on smoking in indoor workplaces and park playgrounds in 2003. (NYC Smoking Ban Debuts Smoking Ban Affects Bars, Nightclubs by Justine Blau, CBS News, 3/30/2003) If passed, as expected, the law will take effect 90 days after the mayor signs it into law.

When this legislation is passed, all New Yorkers will be able to enjoy a walk in the park or a day at the beach without having to inhale secondhand smoke,” said Speaker Christine Quinn when she and the mayor unveiled the proposed legislation in September. ”This bill will save lives and make New York City a healthier place to live.”

August 24, 2010 - Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-smoking crusade could be coming to a city park or public beach near you, a plan plenty of people say crosses the line, reports CBS 2′s Dave Carlin. CBS 2 has learned that Mayor Bloomberg is looking at a possible smoking ban for all city parks and public beaches. The new measure would widen the current smoking ban – in bars, subways, buildings, playgrounds and other public places – to include some 29,000 acres of park land and 14 miles of beaches. (New York City - Mayor Bloomberg still mulling over smoking ban at NYC parks, beaches..)

Studies have shown that outdoor tobacco smoke levels can be as high as secondhand smoke levels indoors and there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke, Quinn and officials in the mayor’s health department have argued. But opponents of the legislation have accused the mayor and the council of infringing on their rights and have disputed the level of risk associated with secondhand smoke.

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. proposed compromise legislation that would carve out areas of parks and beaches where people could smoke. But his legislation appeared unlikely to win the day. “It still has a lot of support,” Vallone said. “I’m disappointed leadership chose to move the original bill and not my compromise.”

The passage of the latest anti-smoking bill is a major coup for Dr. Thomas Farley, the city’s health commissioner. He persuaded an initially reluctant Bloomberg to move forward with the legislation last year. “Cigarettes kill some 7,500 New Yorkers every year, and thousands more suffer smoking-related strokes, heart attacks, lung diseases and cancers,” Farley said last September. “New York City’s Smoke Free Air Act has greatly reduced the harm that cigarettes cause to nonsmokers. By expanding the act to cover parks and beaches, we can reduce the toll even further.”

PUNE: A series of raids by India's Food and Drug Administration has revealed that the idea of tobacco-free campus has remained only on paper. (PUNE - formerly called Poona, also known as Punya-Nagari, is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai.)

An alarming number of vendors were found selling cigarettes and other tobacco products outside schools and colleges across seven divisions of the state. Topping the chart were college campuses in Nagpur, Aurangabad and Pune. Of the over 1,800 shops inspected, more than 1,300 were found selling tobacco within the restricted zone. "Total 1,405 educational institutions across seven divisions of the state were inspected. Of the 1,837 shops and vendors checked, 1,343 were found selling tobacco products within the prohibited zone. A total fine of Rs 2.12 lakh was collected," said C B Pawar, joint commissioner (food) and nodal officer of the FDA.

The move follows a letter from the Union (India) ministry of health and family welfare to the state government on the issue. Under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, selling tobacco products within 100 yards of school and college premises is prohibited. The ministry now wants the state government to enforce it vigorously.The move assumes significance as India has the highest rate of oral cancer in the world which is mostly caused due to consumption of tobacco. "It has been found that there is an increased trend of tobacco habits among students. By permitting sale of tobacco outside educational institutions alongside candies and soft drinks, young people gets this misleading message that tobacco in any form is normal, benign and socially acceptable. This reflects an alarming situation and calls for urgent anti-tobacco and tobacco cessation measures," says cancer surgeon Rakesh Neve of the Ruby Hall's cancer centre.

"Vendors close to educational institutions need to stop selling tobacco products, failing which they will have to shift elsewhere," said senior food inspector from Pune Mohan Kembalkar.